Many stringed instruments include a body, a neck extending from the body, and strings that extend along the neck to the body. Examples of such instruments include, but are not limited to, guitars, bass guitars, mandolins, banjos and other plucked instruments, as well as violins, cellos, basses, and other bowed instruments. The neck of a stringed instrument may include a fingerboard bonded to a neck base. The fingerboard may be formed from a long, thin strip of a different wood (e.g. ebony) than the neck base, and may or may not include frets. Further, some necks may include a binding material arranged along an outer edge of the fingerboard as a decorative and protective feature.